1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a data processor, and more particularly to a data format converter that converts the format of input data into a different format for outputting.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a SoC (System on a Chip) such as the one for a DSC (Digital Still Camera), for example, the format of data to be stored in a memory needs to be converted into a format that is compatible with an internal peripheral circuit (data format conversion).
In conventional SoCs, data format conversion has been processed by software processing via a CPU. However, since software processing via a CPU takes long time, data format conversion is recently performed by using a dedicated hardware.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-240713 discloses a technique for converting input data into data having a different number of bits.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 3-160550 (1991) discloses a technique for one of the data format conversions, endian conversion.
Time required for data format conversion can be reduced by using a dedicated hardware, in comparison to software processing via a CPU. On the other hand, there are various kinds of data format conversions such as endian conversion, packing, unpacking, etc., and a dedicated hardware can perform only one intended kind of conversion. Hence, in order to perform plural kinds of conversions, a separate hardware dedicated to each different conversion is required, which causes a problem that the overall circuit size increases.